Kofi Annan: UN Tax Consultant

Tom DeWeese
March 7, 2002

The United Nations continues to deny that it has
any intention of generating global taxes to fund itself. Remember the old kid's line,
"liar, liar, pants on fire?" Kofi Annan, the Secretary General, and his aides
should quickly look for a fire extinguisher as their pants are surely blazing.

In January 2002, Edward Mortimer, Director of Communications for the Office of UN
Secretary, responded to an article written by Oliver North concerning UN tax schemes. Mr.
Mortimer charged that North "put words in the mouth of (Annan) that he has never said
and put thoughts in Mr. Annan's head that he has never thought." Mortimer goes on to
say "the United Nations is not about to start collecting global taxes." I smell
smoke!

I have in my possession several reports written by UN officials which detail various
tax schemes coveted by money-hungry global bureaucrats. Most important of these reports is
one entitled, "Existing Proposals for Innovative Sources of Finance."
Given the UN's history of denying any official connection to such reports, one wonders how
it will claim ignorance of this one. The report was written by UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan. Either Mr. Mortimer and the UN are lying to hide these tax schemes or the UN's
Secretary General is moonlighting on the side as a tax consultant

"Innovative," like every other obfuscation the UN uses to disguise its plans
of conquest, hardly begins to describe the breadth and boldness of its intentions. Here
are the bare bones of the proposals in Annan's report:

An Air Transportation Tax. As with most UN proposals, this
one is disguised as a solution to "air pollution" and "noise." The
environmental argument has been the mantra the UN and its vast hidden matrix of support
organizations have used to impose various forms of socialist controls on the lives and the
economies of every nation. This one would take the form of a one- percent tax in the price
of all international passenger tickets and freight transport. It would generate some $2.2
billion annually for the UN. Income from domestic passenger tickets would generate an
additional $0.8 billion.

A Carbon Tax. Here again, the "environmental"
argument is advanced to levy a "carbon" tax on all commercial forms of
hydrocarbon fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) based on their carbon content. The UN argues
that this "would discourage the generation of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most
important greenhouse gas." Unsaid is the fact that there is no need whatsoever to
discourage the generation of CO2, a gas that human beings exhale with every breath they
take. Moreover, contrary to UN global warming propaganda, more CO2 in the atmosphere would
be beneficial, stimulating the growth of forests and crops, since it's the key element
plants utilize. The UN estimates that "applied universally" this single tax
alone would "raise about $125 billion." Environmental protection is not the real
goal of this tax; rather it's UN revenue.

So far, according to Kofi Annan's report, every time you get on an airplane, or drive
your car or truck, you may be taxed by the United Nations. But there's more ideas brewing
in that clever mind of Kofi Annan (the one that never even thought of such things,
according to Mr. Mortimer.)

A Currency Tax. This tax (also called the Tobin Tax) would
be levied on every transaction in the foreign exchange market, generating huge amounts of
money estimated in the area of at least $264 billion annually. Some have even estimated
the UN take to be as high as $1 trillion. The levy would be applied to wholesale trades at
the point of bank settlement. In other words, the UN tax would take the cash before anyone
even had it in their hands, just as the federal government confiscates income taxes before
American citizens get it into their pockets. It's the perfect socialist redistribution
scheme. Here again, the UN seeks a clever plan to control the supply of capital, thereby
controlling capitalism at the primary means by which nations and all commercial ventures
are funded. As Kofi Annan notes, "Richer countries would be expected to collect a
much larger share of the tax than poor countries." Karl Marx said it better:
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." The UN has
a lot of needs.

Taxes on all forms of energy extraction, gun exports, and the Internet. The UN wants to
impose taxes on the use of what it calls "the global commons,"
taxing companies who want to mine the seabed or make use of outer space for commercial
purposes. It would impose taxes on "natural resource extraction and land." In
other words, on all mining, drilling and timber enterprises worldwide!

It gets worse. The UN is proposing a tax on all arms exports. And they
want to put a tax on the Internet. "At this rate," says Annan's
report, "Internet data traffic in 1996 would have generated $70 billion."

All of this is being justified by the so-called "weakness" of the current
system by which the United Nations is funded, i.e., voluntary contributions from member
nations. Payment of those contributions today represent the only real influence
member nations have over UN activities. Withholding payment forces the UN
bureaucracy to pause to at least listen to a nation's protests. However, give the UN an
independent source of income, such as any type of global taxation, and it will undoubtedly
use those funds to ensure its power and longevity by creating its own military force, its
own courts and, of course, more taxes.

One can imagine the frustration of the UN hierarchy, living on its measly $1
billion annual budget, while looking out over the wealth in its self-claimed "global
commons." Those riches, of course, must first be created by individuals and
private businesses before it can be confiscated by UN looters. But the UN means to do much
more than loot. It seeks to control the means of production, the property
it stands on and the air and water consumed by the producers.

In spite of the denials of his well-trained apologists, Secretary General Kofi Annan
has personally outlined the UN's intention to tax. He's been caught on paper. There is no
greater danger to freedom than for the UN to gain the power to tax. Stop it now or we will
all surely suffocate under the massive weight of feeding UN bureaucrats.

Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The
DeWeese Report, a monthly newsletter on issues affecting the welfare of the nation. He is
also president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots, activist think tank
headquartered in Warrenton, VA. The Center maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org